Serie A

Serie A Round 25 Results: Napoli blow chance to close in on Juventus, Sau at the double for Cagliari

AFP

By Livio Caferoglu

0

17-Feb-2013 23:15:00

Elsewhere in Italy, Genoa continued their renaissance under Davide Ballardini with an important victory over Udinese while Torino and Catania were the weekend's other winners

CHIEVO 1-1 PALERMO

Mauro Formica scored his first goal in Palermo colours on Saturday, but it was not enough for all three points as Chievo rescued a 1-1 draw at the Bentegodi.

In just the fifth minute Francesco Acerbi's misjudgment on Jasmin Kurtic's raking pass gifted Argentine forward Formica, a January arrival from Blackburn Rovers, the chance to fire in the finish.

However, on the shade of the hour mark, the Flying Donkeys were awarded a reprieve thanks to Santiago Garcia's handball in the box, which Cyril Thereau made no mistake about against his former team-mate Stefano Sorrentino.

The result preserves Alberto Malesani's unbeaten start as Palermo coach, but the side remain second from bottom in the Serie A table. Chievo, meanwhile, sit in 13th place.

TORINO 2-1 ATALANTA

Torino needed a late goal to earn a 2-1 victory over Atalanta on Sunday and end a run of three matches without a win.

The Granata took the lead just three minutes before half-time when Alessio Cerci embarked on a mazy run before cutting inside and firing a finish past Andrea Consigli.

However, Stefano Colantuono's troops came back midway through the second half from the penalty spot. Marko Livaja was felled by goalkeeper Jean-Francois Gillet and German Denis made no mistake from 12 yards out.

But Torino eventually found the strike which pushed them up to 10th in the standings as Valter Birsa got the all-important final touch on Matteo Darmian's cross from the right flank.

CATANIA 1-0 BOLOGNA

Catania resumed winning ways on Sunday thanks to a slender 1-0 home success at the expense of Bologna.

The clincher came on 42 minutes when Gonzalo Bergessio's intelligent play enabled him to find the head of compatriot Sergio Almiron and put the brakes on a two-match barren spell.

Stefano Pioli's side fall to 16th in Serie A following their latest defeat, but the Sicilians consolidate seventh place, with their hopes of European qualification intact.

PESCARA 0-2 CAGLIARI

Marco Sau's impressive start to life in the Italian top flight showed no signs of abating on Sunday as his pair of goals helped Cagliari to a comfortable 2-0 win against Pescara at the Adriatico.

Sau, the 25-year-old forward who had been playing in the Lega Pro as recently as two seasons ago, grabbed his first of the afternoon on 53 minutes, popping up in the box to guide home Andrea Cossu's cross.

And Sau reached double figures for the campaign just eight minutes later when he again proved his striker's instinct by tucking away Radja Nainggolan's ball across the face of Mattia Perin's net.

Pescara, who also suffered the misfortune of Vladimir Weiss' dismissal late on, stay in the relegation zone following their loss but the Sardinians pull seven points clear of danger.

NAPOLI 0-0 SAMPDORIA

Napoli missed a golden opportunity to move within one point of Serie A leaders Juventus after they could only manage a stalemate with Sampdoria at the San Paolo.

The Blucerchiati were on the backburner for much of proceedings, but their defence stood tall for all 96 minutes as Marek Hamsik, guilty of a poor miss in the Europa League midweek, almost made amends with a vicious effort that Sergio Romero pushed onto the post.

The result leaves the hosts four points behind the Old Lady in second place, but Delio Rossi's Sampdoria climb to 12th.

GENOA 1-0 UDINESE

Genoa's invincible run under new boss Davide Ballardini was extended to four games on Sunday after they recorded a vital 1-0 win against Udinese.

The Ligurian outfit netted all the spoils on 33 minutes via JurajKucka, but the Slovakian midfielder's goal came about with a significant portion of luck as goalkeeper Daniele Padelli inexplicably spilt the preceding cross.

Genoa now move four points clear of the bottom three as the Zebrette stay in ninth place.